A shooting on a Texas community college campus wounded three people and sent students fleeing for safety as officials placed the campus on lockdown.

Harris County Sheriff's Major. Armando Tello said authorities had detained a person of interest.

Authorities also thought there could be a second shooter, according to a law enforcement official in Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The shooting comes as the US debates its gun control laws amid a series of mass killings in public venues including schools and cinemas.

Aerial footage from local television stations showed police cars and ambulances parked on the Lone Star College System campus about 20 miles north of central Houston. Emergency personnel could be seen tending to people on stretchers, while others ran from a building led by officers.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office had no immediate details, but college spokesman Jed Young confirmed the campus was put on lockdown following reports of a shooter. The college issued an alert on its website telling students and faculty to take immediate shelter or avoid the campus.

Melinda Muse, spokeswoman for the Harris County Health System, said two people were taken to Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital Emergency Centre following the shooting.

Tello said three people had been injured.

Cody Harris, 20, he said he was in a classroom with about six or seven other students waiting for a psychology class to start when he heard eight shots. He and other students looked at each other, said "I guess we should get out of here," and fled. "I was just worried about getting out," Harris said. "I called my grandmother and asked her to pick me up."

The Lone Star College System has an enrolment of 90,000 students and six college campuses, according to its website.